Monday 18 March, 2019

Por James Grainger

Monday 18 March, 2019

Por James Grainger

Diego Maradona's lawyer says that the former soccer star and current coach of Mexican club Dorados of Sinaloa will legally recognise three children that he fathered in Cuba.

Confirming paternity would mean the 58-year-old former World Cup winner and paternity-suit veteran has fathered eight children officially.

Lawyer Matias Morla told Argentina's Channel 13 television on Friday that he speaks with his client's Cuban children, who were born to two different women.

"Maradona has three children in Cuba, with whom he's in contact," Morla said, adding Maradona would not contest the latest paternity suit in Cuba, where the footballer intermittently underwent treatment for cocaine addiction between 2000-2005.

Asked if Maradona had legally recognised his children on the island, Morla said: "To date, no. But he is going to take care of what he has to do."

Morla didn't give more details but suggested Maradona "would have to appear in court" in Cuba.

"Three more and you'll have a team of 11. Come on, you can do it!" said his daughter Giannina, 29, greeting the news on Instagram.

Both she and her sister Dalma, 31, are estranged from the footballer – siding with their mother Claudia Villafane in a court battle that followed the breakup of their 1984-2003 marriage.

"The lawsuit was filed, but with great respect," added Morla, whose Twitter feed shows he spent part of January in Havana.

Maradona for years denied he had any children other than his daughters with Villafane.

However, he was forced to recognise Diego Junior, 32, and 22-year-old Jana after long court battles with their mothers.

A fifth child – six-year-old Diego Fernando – was born from a recent relationship with fellow Argentine Veronica Ojeda.